Underestimating one’s opponent can prove to be a fatal flaw, a lesson that goes back to Biblical Times, when a giant took on a scrawny kid with a slingshot. Jason Higgins, the hand-chosen successor to David Pilcher, to become the leader of “Wayward Pines,” can’t bring himself to accept the truth. Despite the mounting evidence Higgins refuses to accept that the Abbies are capable of thought, let alone be humanities intellectual superiors. His refusal to alter his mindset has put the 1178 residents of the town in a possible deadly situation. However this episode begins with a flashback that shows the viewers how the conflict between humans and Abbies originated.

The first images of the evening shows what looks to be an idyllic society of Abbies in the wild eating and playing together and showing signs of affection and a mother with her newborn. Suddenly one of the Abbies looks to the sky and starts snarling, we soon see a helicopter hovering above them. Without any warning the chopper starts firing on the Abbies with an automatic weapon and wiping out most of the tribe. When the helicopter lands, Pilcher emerges and we hear someone tell him the area’s now clear and they can start building their fence. Once again humanity starts off with an Original Sin.

We cut to Higgins and Kerry’s bedroom and Jason tells her they should have a baby and at first she seems pleased with the idea. However she soon starts focusing on the problems of the town and any thoughts of romance between the couple that night quickly dissipates.

Theo’s trying to get drunk from the less than satisfactory liquor at the Beer Garden when Rebecca walks in and sits down on the stool next to him. She says to Theo that she really tried to find him, whether she’s being truthful remains a mystery, as one would think that as the town’s designer she’d have some clout. She says that at first her and Xander’s marriage was comparable to two prisoners sharing a cell. Yedlin asks her if she still got feelings for Xander and she responds she chose Theo first. He says that doesn’t answer his question, but just then they see hundreds of people walking briskly through the town square.

Outside the fence Adam Hassler carves a stake, while many of the scouting party sleep. Suddenly, he sees the flames of the corn crops on fire and yells for everybody to clear out. However some of the Abbies already breached the camp and they kill some of the scouts while also suffering losses. Hassler runs into Theresa Burke’s tent and sees one of the Abbies mauling her, Hassler stops the Abbie with two shots to the head but Theresa’s badly injured.

In Megan Fisher’s lab suddenly all the male Abbies start snarling and shaking the bars of their cages in an effort to break free. Fisher looks over at Margaret the female Abbie and sees that she’s standing perfectly still but she’s glaring at Fisher and it causes Megan to feel quite uneasy.

Theo and Rebecca find out that the Abbies have set the cornfield on fire and there’s a woman’s voice on a loudspeaker asking for all able-bodied men to report to the fire-station. Kerry pulls up and tells Yedlin she needs him at the hospital, he asks her why they’re recruiting civilians and she responds to fight the fire while the soldiers fight the Abbies.

Yedlin addresses his staff and tells them they’ll set up a triage unit and treat victims by how severe their injuries are. He then tells the staff he’s got confidence in them to handle the situation. Oscar the senior medical student starts praising Yedlin and the surgeon tells him to shut up.

Jason and the soldiers gear up to battle the Abbies and Higgins says if they can’t save the cornfield they’re all dead. However the Abbies lit the four corners of the field realizing the flames would spread to the center. The soldiers are badly outnumbered and 35 people die at the hands of the Abbies, while the crops got burned to the ground.

The hospital’s a scene of barely contained chaos with blood everywhere and the screams of pain from the victims fill the air. CJ and Hassler arrive with Theresa and Yedlin realizes she’s got a collapsed lung. Theo tells Burke why she can’t breath and says that she’s going to feel pain but this will help her breath, then sticks a syringe into her chest. Theresa winces in pain but soon she’s breathing normally.

Jason’s having an episode of self-doubt and Kerry calls him out on it, telling him he’s acting like a sniveling loser. She says she thought he was the man that was trained from birth to lead Wayward Pines and he says she’s correct. Kerry then tells him to never display a lack of confidence in front of the others, because then they’ll lose their faith in him.

Jason and Kerry meet with Mitchum, Yedlin, Mario and Fisher to assess the damage and discuss their options which CJ says don’t exist. He says that the Abbies learned to use fire, after the soldiers killed some with flamethrowers and says that they knew what they were doing when they set the crops on fire and when they ambushed them. Higgins won’t accept the fact that the Abbies are capable of thought and reason and gets agitated when someone suggests otherwise.

Mitchum says that even if the Abbies were to retreat from the fence, the soil they used would need months to recover. CJ tells them that they’ve got less than six weeks worth of food in storage. Then Yedlin hits them with the second punch, they’re dangerously low on antibiotics and somebody could possibly die from a sinus infection or tetanus. Theo says he could possibly synthesize a penicillin type drug, but that’s about it.

Hassler was also badly injured by the Abbies and wakes up after his surgery and sees Oscar standing over his bed. Adam asks if Theresa’s alive and Oscar says he can’t discuss other patients with him. Hassler flashes back to Seattle in our era and he’s sitting on a city bench when Megan approaches the bench and sits next to him. He asks where Pilcher’s at and she says he couldn’t make it so she came instead. She says that Ethan Burke belongs to the future and that Adam can now pursue the woman he loves Theresa. Then she says Pilcher told her that Hassler tried to call it off and asks him if he’s in love with Theresa why would he do that. Hassler replies that his feelings don’t justify his actions and walks away.

Hassler leaves his room and starts looking for Theresa and he sees her in a room comatose and hooked up to a ventilator. He walks over to her bed and takes her hand and apologizes for destroying her life. He then flashes back to our era and we see that he witnessed Ethan and Theresa surprising Ben with a birthday cake in the park, then he sadly walks away. Right then Burke wakes up momentarily and pulls her hand away from Adam then closes her eyes again. We see that she’s having the same memory of surprising Ben and then she flat-lines.

Theo heads to Fisher’s lab and Megan’s got Margaret in an MRI chamber per Yedlin’s request. He tells Fisher he wants to examine Margaret’s brain to determine how large her center of language and advanced thought is and then the surgeon gasps. He says a chimpanzee’s brain contains a center that’s one-third the size of a human and that Margaret’s center’s twice the size of a human’s. Megan asks if that means she can understand them, unaware that Margaret’s actually communicating telepathically with the Abbies outside the fence.

Theo heads back to the hospital and starts questioning Hassler about female Abbies, when Adam asks what Theo knows about the females, he replies they’ve got one in captivity. Adam’s eyes show his fear and he asks Theo if the female has a raised brand on the palm of her hand.

In the final scene we watch the radar detector pick up more and more Abbies gathering around the fence, the amount of dots on the screen increase from about a hundred to what looks like thousands. Suddenly the sound of the Abbies outside the fence permeates the air, causing everyone to come out to the street. As the hospital staff stand in front of their building, Arlene asks Yedlin if they’re going to be alright.

Once again the creative team behind the FOX Network Summer series “Wayward Pines,” pulled off a pretty neat trick, confirming some of the clues viewers picked up on, while also revealing some jaw-dropping surprises. The show took the audience back to our era, as another complicated relationship gets explained and the true reason behind Theo and Rebecca Yedlin living in Wayward Pines gets revealed. As many viewers deduced Rebecca played an instrumental role developing David Pilcher’s vision and one of Pilcher’s original band of “True Believers.”

Rebecca’s a Harvard educated architect working for a firm in the Boston area and finds out a project she’s been working on got assigned to another architect. She’s also informed that she’s got a visitor in her office, a man who refused to wait in the reception area. Her visitor introduces himself as Dr. David Pilcher and asks if she’s read his book? He tells Yedlin he’d like her to consider designing an ambitious and historic project and suggests they discuss it over dinner.

Pilcher hands Rebecca her Harvard thesis over a restaurant table and says that he’s noticed that Yedlin’s a fan of Henry Clubb and she smiles and says Clubb inspired her to become an architect. Clubb built a settlement in 1856 called Octagon City in Kansas, that Clubb envisioned as a Utopian Society for Vegetarians, with all the buildings being eight-sided. The settlement failed miserably as occupants fled after only a few months, but both Yedlin and Pilcher got inspired by Clubb’s vision of a Utopian paradise.

He tells Rebecca that he believes a flood is coming and he wants Yedlin to build an arc. She responds it would be very expensive and Pilcher without hesitation says he’s willing to pay whatever it takes. He then asks her if she’d like to build the community that she got inspired by? Pilcher then says he’s looking for dreamers and asks if she’s one of them?

We return to 4032, as Jason Higgins dispatches two jeep-loads of soldiers to deal with the Abbie near the merry-go-round that scared Frank in the final scene of the previous episode. Although Jason instructed his men to kill the Abbie, Kerry realizes that they’ve encountered their first female Abbie. So the female’s spared and brought back to Megan Fisher’s complex to be studied. Fisher notices a swirl mark on the palm of one of the female’s hands and says perhaps it’s anthropological. However she makes it clear, that her only interest in studying the Abbies is for her to learn how to kill them all.

Outside the town’s gates CJ Mitchum leads the mission to determine the best place for the town to plant new crops and he asks Adam Hassler to help some guys taking water samples. Hassler suggests he grab a shovel so he can start digging graves. Mitchum says they’re not planning on dying out there, but Hassler responds that the Abbies won’t give them a choice in the matter.

Theresa Burke tells CJ that she’s staying outside the fence when the rest of the team return to town. Mitchum says they can’t be certain that the Abbies have left for good and advises her to return with them for her own safety. She says that her son died out there and she’s not leaving him again and she’ll be fine without Mitchum’s protection. CJ says that she might want to tell Hassler the same thing and Theresa shakes her head and says Adam’s the reason her son and husband died. Mitchum acknowledges that, but he says Hassler’s the reason she’s still alive.

Rebecca’s brought to Idaho and introduced to some of the other “True-Believers,” including Megan Fisher who raves about Yedlin’s designs for the town. Pilcher tells her they’ve already set up a base of operations and Rebecca will have plenty of time to explore the facility after they have dinner that evening.

Jason’s obsessed with trying to determine how the female Abbie got inside the fence and pays Rebecca a visit at her hair salon. He asks her if the fence’s secure and she replies that it is, he asks her what if she’s wrong and she replies then they’re all dead. Ever the punk, Higgins feels the need to give Yedlin a dig and asks how everything’s going at home? Rebecca says all’s well and Jason smirks and says that she must have told Theo everything then and says it’s never good to keep secrets.

Frank reports for breeding-duty and tries to reschedule, but the woman ignores the request and tells Frank his locker and breeding room number. The session ends pretty disastrously as Frank shows little passion in bed and the poor girl says it’s obvious he doesn’t like her. Embarrassed Frank tells the girl she’s right he prefers blondes, she gives him a dirty look and says maybe he’s not a good match for anybody and says she’ll tell the authorities that as she leaves the room.

Theo and Kerry have a conversation in Yedlin’s office and he tells her that he wants to be put in charge of research on the Abbies. Kerry says she could do that but Theo would be stepping on some toes, she’s delighted to see that doesn’t deter Yedlin and the two head to the facility. Fisher’s about to extract some spinal fluid from the female without sedation. Theo tells her he’s in charge now and orders her not to perform the procedure and says he’ll be by first thing in the morning to layout the new protocols. As soon as Yedlin walks away Megan orders her assistant to extract the fluid.

Rebecca’s informed that Pilcher’s glorious project will come to fruition in 2000-years as Fisher explains they’ll be in cryogenic hibernation until after the crisis they’re expecting passes and they’ll be members of a new start for humanity. Yedlin realizes they’re serious and wants to back out but she’s afraid of the repercussions of making that choice. We now know exactly why Rebecca was in such a terrible mood on her vacation with Theo in Hawaii, because she knew those were their final days in the 21st Century.

Here’s a fun fact, the First Generation Of Wayward Pines believe that the only definition of the word Gay signifies happiness. We find that out when Frank comes to get examined by Theo after he strikes out with Meadow at his breeding session. Turns out that this wasn’t Frank’s first attempt and he had just as little success the first time.

Yedlin asks him if he believes he’s Gay and then we realize that concept’s never been explained to the youngsters. He tells Frank that perhaps he’s attracted to members of his own sex and the teen freaks out and asks Theo to cure him. Yedlin tells the teen there’s nothing wrong with him, but Frank replies if he can’t reproduce they’ll kill him. Theo assures him he won’t allow that to happen.

Outside the fence, Adam tells Theresa that she and Ben were never supposed to follow Ethan to Wayward Pines. He’d been in love with Theresa all along and sent Ethan to Idaho to get rid of him so Hassler could have a shot at winning her heart. However when Ben and she followed Ethan, he decided he had no life in our era without her. He apologizes but she doesn’t display any anger.

We’re hit with our third straight bombshell in the next scene as Theo comes home to find Rebecca and Xander waiting for him. Rebecca tells Theo that she and Xander are married and have been for about a year, but they haven’t been together for six months. She tells Yedlin she got kidnapped and woke up all alone in this mess and thought Theo died. Xander explains they got matched up and says it’s not Rebecca’s fault. Yedlin lets his wedding ring hit the floor and then causes Xander to hit the floor when he connects with a right to Xander’s nose.

Adam tells Theresa that he realizes why she doesn’t want to go back to the town as she’s given up and just wants to die. He tells her that he’s been there but he’s at peace now and just needs Theresa’s forgiveness. She says they’re stuck together so they can talk but she’ll never forgive him.

We get one more flashback, as we see when Rebecca’s first revived from her 2000 year nap. The scene very much resembles when we got introduced to Theo, but Xander’s there to greet her instead of Kerry. He tells Rebecca she got knocked out in the storm. When Xander drives them through the town square she realizes they’re in the town she designed.

The final scene shows us that the Abbies have returned and embraced fire as their own weapon, as they each clutch a torch and start burning down the cornfields. However suddenly they stand still and silent as it appears that the female Abbie might be communicating with them telepathically.

Who truly are the monsters on the FOX Network Summer series “Wayward Pines,” the Abbies or the remaining humans who reside behind an electric fence in an Idaho community? Four episodes into the second year of this series, the answer to that question’s at best debatable. While the residents of Wayward Pines, fixate on doing everything they can to survive, many of them have lost their humanity in the process. They readily eliminate threats from throughout their ranks, while forcing others to enter situations they’re not yet prepared for.

Contrast that behavior with what we saw earlier this season, as the Abbies readily sacrificed themselves in order for some of them to get past the electric fence and enter the town. Would the remaining humans in the year 4032, put themselves in danger for the greater good? Although there are some characters we’ve encountered that seem selfless enough to give up their lives to save another, they appear to be very few that would comfortably fit in that category.

Dr. Theo Yedlin, Ben Burke and Xander Beck, got exiled from the town at the conclusion of the season premiere and while Yedlin got saved early in episode two, Ben and Xander’s fate remained unknown until this chapter. Beck’s alive although he finds himself at the bottom of a pretty deep pit, possibly an abandoned well. He climbs the rocks that line the sides and nearly reaches the top when an Abbie pushes him back down to the bottom. The Abbie then jumps down and starts attacking Beck, but Xander gets the creature in a headlock and chokes the life out of it. Then to confirm his opponent won’t rise again, Beck smashes a boulder against his skull.

As despicable as Jason Higgins, the current leader of Wayward Pines has proven himself to be, there’s a special place in Hell for Megan Fisher. She somehow survived her brush with death on Invasion Day, however her second chance didn’t alter her perspective or her personality. She’s a controlling, manipulative, woman that despises to be challenged and that happened a couple of times during this installment.

Jason, Kerry Campbell, CJ Mitchum and Fisher were in the midst of a meeting when we joined them, as Megan gets the First Couple up to date on their big fertility push. A number of the young teens are far along in their pregnancies and more girls have started ovulating. Mitchum, seemingly disgusted with the conversation gets up to leave but Jason asks him to stay. CJ says he thought the meeting concerned sending out a squadron miles away from town to check out soil samples and the water situation, so they could plant more crops to feed the town. Mitchum wants to take full advantage of the Abbies vacating the area.

Fisher tries torpedoing the idea asking Jason what would Pilcher say? Higgins responds that Pilcher would back the plan and he tells CJ and Mario to start planning for the upcoming mission. Megan involuntarily stiffens in her wheelchair, when Higgins’ disregards her advice. However we can see that Mitchum’s pleased as more crops gives the town a better chance for survival.

Beck’s getting a drink from a brook when a stranger with a long beard and long stringy-hair comes up from behind him and covers Xander’s mouth and holds a blade to his neck. Turns out the stranger’s Adam Hassler, Ethan Burke and Kate Hewson’s boss in the Secret Service and one of the dozen nomads that David Pilcher sent out when he revived the people from Group A. Hassler’s the only one of the nomads to return to the town and he’s got the physical and mental scars to show how harrowing his experience was.

Adam tells Beck that the Abbies have a system and if you can survive long enough you can figure it out. He says they usually send a scout to a new territory first and if you can hightail it before the scout reaches the rest of his group, you’ll survive. He then tells Xander he’s got to go back to town as there’s somebody he needs to talk to and suggests Beck join him, saying the worst they can do is not let him in. However both men are allowed through the gates without a problem and a buzz of recognition fills the air as some of the soldiers realize that the man with Beck’s Adam Hassler.

Hassler’s brought into an examination room where he meets Yedlin and they introduce themselves. Adam says his mission was to leave town and look for other survivors and we’re aware that he made it to San Francisco, from a videotape Theresa Burke found last year. The only human that Hassler met outside the gate was Xander and Theo muses that perhaps they’ll never know for certain if any other humans remain. Adam grabs Theo and whispers “Oh we know. They’re not are enemies, they’re our replacements.”

Hassler then grimaces in pain and Theo tells him to lie back and show Yedlin where the pain’s emanating from. It’s his abdomen and when Theo lifts up his shirt we see how badly Adam’s torso’s been repeatedly sliced. From his chest to his waist, his body’s covered in scar tissue.

Later that morning, Theo’s doing paperwork when Jason comes into Yedlin’s office and starts asking the doctor questions about Hassler, as Adam won’t talk to him. Theo says he won’t violate doctor/patient confidentiality and he tells Higgins that if he wants answers from Hassler, then go question Adam.

Crisis time for Lucy Armstrong the young girl that helps Rebecca Yedlin in her beauty-shop. Lucy’s had her first-period and she’s terrified Megan will find out and immediately try to pair her up with a boy and get her to start spitting out kids. Lucy’s crying and tells Rebecca that she’s not ready to have children, but Rebecca tells Lucy she needs to go back to school or they’ll realize something’s wrong.

Hassler’s fallen asleep in the hospital bed and he dreams about a battle he had with an Abbie in which he killed his opponent with a sword. He wakes up startled, then realizes he’s in the hospital and puts on his coat and starts to leave, however that’s when we realize that Adam’s hallucinating and keeps seeing nonexistent Abbies. He heads downtown and his appearance raises a ruckus, as he’s scaring little kids and he keeps getting visions.

He ducks down an alley however Theresa Burke sees him and follows him, when she’s certain it’s him she asks how he could have worked with Pilcher and why did he involve her family? He asks where’s Ethan and she tells him he’s dead and there’s good probability that Ben’s dead as well, as they threw him outside the fence. She screams that she lost her family because of him and that they had trusted him. She then turns around and stomps away.

The grade school students put on a play commemorating Pilcher’s decision to put the Wayward Pines project into action and the cast featured a seven year-old portraying Pilcher as well as singing pine trees. Lucy’s emotions overcome her and she leaves the auditorium and breaks down crying. Later that day Fisher approaches her and says she’s noticed the girl used the bathroom a lot that day and Armstrong says she ate something that didn’t agree with her. Megan accepts her response but Lucy realizes Fisher didn’t believe her. She tells her older brother Frank that Fisher knows, but he tells her not to worry and promises he won’t tell Megan.

That vow doesn’t last too long, as Megan invites Frank for a chocolate ice cream soda and reminds Armstrong that the “First Generation Of Wayward Pines,” aren’t allowed to keep secrets from her. Frank says it’s his job to protect Lucy and Fisher tells him she understands that but says that the needs of Wayward Pines outweigh those of any individual. Frank admits his sister’s ovulating.

Theo goes to talk to Mitchum about possibly rethinking the mission he and his crew are about to embark on, telling CJ that he believes Pilcher’s protégé underestimates the Abbies. Mitchum assures Yedlin that’s not the case, then he tells Theo that they’re carrying out this mission to give the people hope.

Rebecca returns to her shop to find Megan inside talking to Lucy and Yedlin asks what’s going on? Fisher says she and Lucy are talking and then she tells Lucy to head back to the Academy with her. Lucy refuses and Rebecca tells the girl to wait outside. She then tells Megan to leave the girl alone and Fisher says she’s meeting with Jason in 15 minutes and she’s going to report this incident to Higgins. Yedlin breaks into a huge grin and she says that Fisher should try that and then says that’s a fight Megan’s bound to lose then pushes Fisher’s wheelchair out of her shop and onto the sidewalk. Yedlin tells Lucy she’ll stay with her and Theo for the next few nights.

The convoy starts to leave town and Theresa stops the vehicle with Mitchum in it. She tells CJ she’s going with them as she has to find out Ben’s fate. Mitchum asks her what’s the story with him as Adam climbs into another vehicle and she tells CJ that’s Mitchum’s concern not hers.

The convoy reaches it’s destination and we see snow-capped mountains in the distance. Theresa approaches Adam and asks him if he’s there to help her and he responds she’s correct. She tells Hassler the general area that the harvest crew last saw Ben, he forages through the underbrush with a flashlight. Unfortunately Ben wasn’t as fortunate as Xander and Theresa has to lift the tarpaulin off his corpse to identify her son.

The following day Frank sees his sister and asks what’s going on and she tells him that she realizes that despite his promise he told Fisher about her period. Frank says he had to and Lucy says she could tell Megan things about him, he seems concerned and asks what kind of things? Lucy ignores the question and tells her brother she hates him. Whether he felt bad because of what his sister said, or concerned with what Lucy would tell Fisher, Frank’s moody and morose the entire evening. He finally puts on his hoodie and heads downtown where he’s about to eat a sandwich when the merry-go-round suddenly comes to life briefly. However just as abruptly it powers down and Frank’s terrified when he sees an Abbie’s standing on the ride and staring back at him.

Which scenario will lead to the destruction of the Human Race, Man’s Inhumanity to Man, or the savage aberrations that now run wild in the 41st Century? Once again that question drives the plot for season two of the FOX series “Wayward Pines,” as the residents fight amongst each other, and the creatures humans evolved into due to toxic pollution. The secrecy that engulfed the town in the first season’s mostly gone, but the divisiveness remains, as the young, volatile and unstable zealot Jason Higgins, attempts to keep the citizens in line.

The action begins shortly after the final scene of the season premier, as we watch a van containing Dr. Theo Yedlin and two rebels get sent through the gate that protects the town. Yedlin, Ben Burke and Xander, split up and try to escape the Abbies, however Xander’s almost immediately pounced on. The Abbies keep rushing the electric fence, which at first seems like madness, but they’ve got a plan in mind.

As the creatures fall to their deaths, they form a mountain of corpses high enough for some of the Abbies to make it over the fence. Higgins orders troops to the fence and insists that he and his significant other Kerry travel out there to assess the situation. What he doesn’t count on is Kerry getting mauled by an Abbie that jumped the fence, meaning Jason had to save Yedlin, the only doctor in the town to keep Kerry alive.

Yedlin’s brought to the hospital and Higgins orders him to perform surgery on Kerry, but Theo says not so fast. Jason needs him so Theo says he’s not doing anything until his wife’s brought to the hospital and he gets an explanation of what’s going on. Rebecca’s brought to the facility but Yedlin demands to know where they’re at. Rebecca shakes her head at Higgins, but the leader tells her husband the truth, however Theo doesn’t believe him. Rebecca convinces her husband to perform the surgery and he saves Campbell.

After completing the operation, Theo and Rebecca head to a home with their name on the mailbox. Theo finds out that his wife was revived three years before. Yedlin finally starts to accept his reality, there’s a knock at the front door and it’s of their neighbor’s Nancy, with her son who’s feeling sick and heard Yedlin’s a doctor. Thus starts Theo’s career as head of medicine at Wayward Pines Hospital.

We meet a new character, a man who appears to be in his mid-forties named CJ Mitchum. He’s described as a protégé of Pilcher’s and apparently he’s in charge of the military. Higgins wants to meet with him to discuss harvesting the crops outside the fence. The soil within the town’s not suitable to grow vegetables, so they had to plant their crops outside the fence, making the harvest a life-threatening exercise. It’s decided that the soldiers will attempt to protect the harvesters with flame-throwers, hoping the weapons will fend off the Abbies. The plan works, after incinerating a few of the creatures the rest of the Abbies retreat and they’re able to harvest their crops.

Ben Burke grabs one of the harvesters and begs the guy to hide him in a truck as he’s a member of the First Generation of Wayward Pines. The guy throws Burke off him and scrambles into a truck. Ben runs after the vehicles but the gate slams shut just before he gets to it.

Yedlin arrives for his first full day at the hospital and gets greeted by the hospital’s receptionist, Arlene who used to be the receptionist for the Sheriff. Theo recognizes her from when he saw her receiving electro-shock treatments when he operated on Kate Hewson. Arlene calls them her little tune-up to balance her out and says she’s now right as rain. The medical students then arrive so Theo can lead them on rounds.

Over at Wayward Pines Academy, Megan Fisher displays an Abbie’s cadaver eliciting gasps from the students. She smiles and tells them they’re perfectly safe as the creature’s dead. She then excitedly tells the students the cadavers and the three Abbies they hold captive will be the key to finding their weaknesses. She asks the students if they’ve got any questions and one of the boys asks if the Abbie in front of them scaled the fence by climbing on the pile of other creatures? He then asks if it can happen again and Megan says no because they defeated the beasts.

Yedlin and Higgins get into a spitting match as Jason tries to order Theo around and the doctor stands up to him. Theo says Higgins may not think Yedlin can do his job, but they both realize Jason can’t save a patient. Higgins starts to rant to Kerry, but Campbell tells her boyfriend that they need Yedlin and if not for him she’d be dead. Jason starts to cry and says she’s right.

Theresa Burke finds out that Higgins sent Ben outside the fence and begs some members of the First Generation to go out there and look for her son. She says that its their first rule that no member of the First Generation can harm another. Mario finally tells her they have their orders and tells two of the soldiers to take her home.

Ben makes one final plea for his life as he talks to the security cameras outside the fence. He says as a member of the First Generation, he’s supposed to be protected. He then says if his mother can hear him, he realizes she thought he went too far but he just wanted to do the right thing. He then says to Higgins hopefully some good will come of Ben’s death as the residents may realize what kind of a leader Jason is. Higgins tells the operator to kill the feed.

The next morning Burke’s standing in a cornfield when he hears rustling. He optimistically calls out for Mario and then Xander. However he soon sees a band of Abbies heading towards him. His final words are sorry dad and then the pack jump him.

The final scene has Kerry walk in on Jason watching the security monitors and she asks what he’s looking at and he responds nothing. Then he beckons Campbell to take a look and all the Abbies appear to have vanished.

The FOX Network concluded their ten-part miniseries “Wayward Pines,” with an episode that’s kept social-media-sites buzzing, over the last few days. The finale divided fans of the series into two camps, those who think the show ended on a brilliant note, while others simply hated it. During the last few minutes of the finale, the show-runners pulled a “bait and switch” maneuver, altering the optimistic ending that got set-up during the hour, to a much darker conclusion. While many viewers enjoyed the twist in the final minutes, many fans got confused or disgusted with the ending.

Although I’ve yet to read any of the Wayward Pines trilogy of novels, written by author Blake Crouch, I’m aware that the miniseries ended differently than the first novel did. I’m also aware that a plot-device used in the TV show “The First Generation Of Wayward Pines,” wasn’t utilized in Crouch’s books. The fact that the mini-series used the youngsters prominently and they figured into the conclusion, has many friends of mine that read the novels, besides themselves in consternation. We’ve seen Hollywood reconfigure some incredible novels, into films that were barely recognizable to the book’s fans for decades. So we’re going to leave that subject alone, in this article and just deal with the perspective of fans who didn’t read the books.

The series and its final episode are recapped elsewhere on this site, so we’re going to concentrate on just the final scenes of Thursday’s finale. The creator of Wayward Pines, David Pilcher got shot to death by his disillusioned sister Pam, earlier in the evening. The show’s protagonist, former Secret Service Agent turned Wayward Pines Sheriff Ethan Burke, sacrificed his life to save the rest of the residents. Burke connected four bombs to a detonator and when the Abbies began to attack the elevator car he rode in, he blew them and himself up. The elevator exploded into a ball of flame and then dropped like a stone to the bottom of the shaft.

Hearing the explosion, Ethan’s son Ben stuck his head inside the shaft, looking and calling for his father. However, his search didn’t last long as a piece of debris hit him in the head and knocked him out cold.

A while later, things have calmed down in Wayward Pines, as the power’s restored, the people are safe and they’ve had a chance to catch their collective breath. Pam and Kate Balinger, Ethan’s former partner in the Secret Service, knock down all the barriers that have come between them for the last 12-years and level with each other. We see a pact formed between the two women, to help run the town and end all the secrets and lies that David insisted on using. Things appear to be taking an optimistic turn as the women attempt to put humanity in the year 4028, back on the right path. Then the screen goes blank for a few seconds, something doesn’t feel right, it seems unfinished. We soon find out that’s indeed the case.

When the picture returns we hear a female voice asking how are you feeling Mr. Burke? Ben’s in a hospital bed and Amy’s wearing a nurse’s uniform, he asks what’s going on and Amy says his doctor will be there shortly and explain everything. Ben asks her why she’s dressed like that and she replies she’s a nurse and graduated two weeks ago.

Ben soon finds out he’s been in suspension for the last three-years and four-months, along with all the adults from Group B. The First Generation Of Wayward Pines, overpowered the adults and after putting them all back to sleep, took over operation of the town. The fear and ignorance are back in full force, emphasized by corpses hanging on light-poles on Main Street, one having a sign around his neck reading “Do Not Try To Leave.”

Judging by the posts I’ve encountered on Social-Media-Sites, a sizable portion of the viewers were confused by the ending. They failed to realize that Pam, Kate, Theresa Burke and the rest of the adults from Wayward Pines, were back in their cryogenic tubes in suspended animation. Many also failed to grasp that the dozens of students that rode out the storm in the supply room of Wayward Pines Academy, had taken control of the town and running it just as the man they refer to as their Savior, David Pilcher kept things in order.

Another segment of the audience, believes that the last-minute twist was the perfect conclusion for the miniseries. Many felt that an optimistic ending, with all holding hands and singing “Kumbaya,” would have felt false and forced. This was after all the story of a psychotic genius, who kidnapped hundreds of people over a 15-year period, ripping them away from their lives and loved ones, so that Pilcher could restore humanity in the distant future. The optimistic conversation between Pam and Kate, was in fact just a mirage. A momentary feeling that they could reshape their society.

The last segment of the audience, simply hated the conclusion. They didn’t like the fact that Ethan Burke died and got more upset when they realized his death was in vain. The open and free society, that Burke envisioned never came about and in fact many folks got punished just for learning the truth. They didn’t play an active role into finding out what their circumstances were, but just by getting informed they got put back in suspension.

There were some published reports last week emanating from Internet-Based TV Sites that FOX had decided against bringing back Wayward Pines for a second season. However as of this writing, the network’s been mum on the series fate and no mainstream publication such as Entertainment Weekly, or USA Today have gone with the story running on the Internet sites. So as far as this writer’s concerned, the decision whether to bring back Wayward Pines next summer’s a 50/50 proposition and the controversy over the finale, helps the chances of FOX renewing the show.

As far as this writer’s opinion on the finale, it was far from being a satisfying episode. Had we flashed ahead and witnessed a teary-eyed Theresa, Ben and Amy at the dedication of a statue to the town’s hero Ethan Burke, for sacrificing his life to save Wayward Pines and all the residents were happy, that would have been a true “warm-and-fuzzy” moment. But the “bait and switch” conclusion, may have been the best fit. It was a dark-ending for a dark-series and 48-hours after being broadcast on the East Coast it’s still causing a buzz.

While many viewers of the FOX Network’s miniseries “Wayward Pines,” might be less than satisfied with the way they wrapped things up, it might have been the appropriate way to end the season. The last few minutes of the series, harkened back, to many episodes of the classic science-fiction anthology series The Twilight Zone, a show that very few episodes concluded with conventional happy endings. Good intentions, nobility and bravery, aren’t always rewarded in life. Sometimes we discover the correct path but still fail to follow it, we overlook the bad and give the title of Savior, to those whose names shouldn’t even get mentioned in the same paragraph the word appears in.

Chapter ten of the story, jumped into action in the opening sequence and kept the viewers on the edge of their chairs, until the screen went black. David Pilcher got pretty ticked off when Sheriff Ethan Burke revealed the truth about Wayward Pines, to all the residents and decided to display his anger by cutting off all the town’s electrical power. Including the power source for the electric fence, keeping the Abbies at bay for the previous 14-years.

We see that the Abbies have breached the perimeter in the opening sequence and they’re heading straight for Main Street. Ethan contacts the complex and speaks with Pam, who confirms what Burke’s already figured out, that her brother cut off all the power to the town. Six Abbies have been found inside the perimeter, the residents gathered on Main Street need to be moved to a secure shelter immediately. Ethan tells everybody gathered to head to Lot 33, where there’s an underground bunker, which should provide them safety from the Abbies.

Ethan, Kate and some of the men head over to the sheriff’s station and Burke starts passing out weapons to them. The two grads of Wayward Pines Academy, locked in a cell ask what’s going on, but their questions are ignored. We move to an interrogation room locked from the outside, where Jason’s body’s being stored and the teen that shot Harold Balinger and three other men to death last week isn’t dead. He comes to but doesn’t say anything.

Ethan tells Kate to finish passing out the weapons and he’ll meet her at the bunker. They’re just about to leave the station when Jason shows himself through the glass section of the door he’s locked behind. He says that Pilcher’s predicted that this day was coming for a long time. The First Generation of Wayward Pines, would survive the storm in an ark. However those too weak to swim like her and Harold would die. Kate contemplates shooting Jason dead, but decides it’s not worth the time and they leave.

Ben’s sitting by Amy’s side on her hospital bed when she regains consciousness. He hugs her and tells her how scared he was that he was going to lose her. Just then Theresa enters the room, she says they need to leave immediately, Ben says he won’t leave Amy. Theresa tells her son to find Dr. Carroll the surgeon who operated on Amy.

Pam walks into David’s office and he hugs her and tells her he’s so glad she arrived. He says they have to discuss preparations for reviving Group C and her face registers horror, upon hearing her brother’s words. She tells him that those are their people down on the ground and he has to save them, but he says he wishes he could but it’s too late.

He says the town’s sick and he failed them, but says he won’t make the same mistakes with this new group. He says the Abbies will leave in the winter and then they can repair the town and start fresh. He says this time he and Pam have to be more hands-on, like in the old days.

Pamela says they’re not having a theoretical discussion, these are real human beings whose lives are in danger. She says Pilcher must turn back on the power and then send his guards down to Main Street to destroy the Abbies. David’s eyes light up when she mentions the guards, he summons two into his office and orders them to put Pam into suspension. He then has the guards round-up all the volunteers and he orders them all to be re-frozen.

Doctor Carroll tells Theresa that it’s too early to move Amy, but Theresa says they have no choice in the matter. Suddenly all the power goes out again in the hospital. Carroll says the generator’s acting up and he’s got to fix it and he’ll be right back.

Main Street’s filled with corpses, some Abbies but mostly humans, we see “Big” Bill, Theresa’s boss at the real estate office become a happy-meal for one of the Abbies. Pilcher watches all the carnage on the monitors in his office, while listening to an opera LP.

Pam and the volunteers are brought to Christina, who heads up the cryogenics process. Pam tries reasoning with her, the head-guard and a younger guard, but Christina cuts her off and says Pilcher’s their savior. Pam smiles and says he’s not a savior or a God, he’s just a man and he’s made a terrible mistake. The community’s thriving, we had a lot of birth’s in the last year. At that point the head guard knocks out Pamela with a Taser unit, the young guard starts to say something and his supervisor says he might want to stay quiet.

Some of the graduates from Wayward Pines Academy come into the sheriff’s office and release the two guys from the cell and Jason. One of them suggests they stay where they are, but Jason convinces them they have to go to the ark. He says that’s the only way they can survive the attack.

Dr. Carroll starts to reboot the generator, but he’s stopped pretty quickly by the Abbie right behind him. Theresa realizes Carroll’s likely not coming back and starts leading Ben and Amy out of the hospital. She reaches around a corner to make sure all’s clear but an Abbie grabs her arm, slicing her arm in the process. Ethan shows up and kills the Abbie with one shot and then he helps them leave the hospital and head to Lot 33.

Kate’s trying to keep one step ahead of the Abbies and goes into her toy store and bolts the door to the back-room. She’s just about to catch her breath, when she hears sounds on the roof. An Abbie falls through the roof and Kate kills it by repeatedly hitting it with a large steel instrument.

She gets out to the street and an Abbie’s munching on Tim the hotel manager. Tim’s still alive and he points to a bag about two-feet in front of Kate that contains the remainder of the bombs that Franklin built. Realizing it’s too late to save Tim, she grabs the bag and runs to Lot 33.

Pamela’s put back into a cryogenic-state. Pilcher watches and we can see the mixed emotions registering on his face as the tube’s she’s encased in get’s filled with the material that will put her back into a state of suspended animation. The rest of the volunteers watch in horror and disbelief.

Most of the town’s residents are in the bunker and Ethan goes over to Megan Fisher and asks her where the tunnels that also occupy the space where they’re at lead to and she says she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Burke says he knows that Megan was with Pilcher from the beginning and she says she doesn’t know where they lead to. Kate asks Fisher if she wants everybody to die and Megan says David will save them all.

Burke tells her that Pilcher’s the one trying to kill them, he shut off the power and let the Abbies into Wayward Pines. Fisher says Ethan’s a liar, but Ben yells out that he’s not. He walks up to Megan and says you told us Pilcher watches over all of us, so how could he not realize the power’s off? Ben says you told us this is an ark and one crack can destroy us all, Pilcher’s the crack and we’re all going to drown.

Ben’s words resonate with Fisher and she tells Ethan that the Western tunnel leads to an elevator that she has the code for. She says the elevator will take them to the complex. Burke tells Theresa that he’ll be back soon and he and Kate head to find the elevator.

Jason and his buddies arrive at Wayward Pines Academy and there are a few dozen students waiting there. Jason opens the door to a supply room, stocked to the hilt with everything they can possibly need. Jason says this is the place that the First Generation Of Wayward Pines rides out the storm.

Kate and Ethan take the elevator up and we watch them shoot four guards. The guards with the volunteers hear the gunfire and the head guard runs to help, but the younger one stays behind. As soon as the other guard’s out of sight, the young guard points his weapon at Christina and tells her to wake up Pam.

After taking out all the guards, Kate and Ethan return to the bunker and tell all the residents they’ll need to take several trips on the elevator, but they’re all heading to the Complex where they’ll be safe. Everybody starts to head to the elevator except for Megan, her husband Brad tells her it’s time to go, but she says she’s staying behind. She says that she saw some students on Main Street and if any show up she wants to let them in. Brad kisses her on the forehead and tells her to stay safe. A few minutes later, there’s a banging on the door and then the doors knocked off it’s hinges and thrown to the floor below. We don’t see Megan get killed but it likely happened quickly.

Most of the residents have made it to the complex, but Ethan asks where Ben and Theresa are and Amy responds they haven’t made it up yet. He takes the elevator back down and gathers the last group including his wife and son, but the elevator screeches to a halt short of the floor. Ben shimmies up to the top of the car and he sees a ladder and the elevator door.

Ben helps everybody out of the car and then reaches down to help his father get out, but Ethan says he’ll catch up with him. He’s got to make sure none of the Abbies can make it to the complex, he tells Ben to go on ahead and he’ll see him soon.

Burke gets all four bombs out of the bag from Tim and connects them all to a detonator. Pilcher’s watching him on his monitor and suddenly his voice is ringing in the elevator. The Abbies are climbing up the walls of the elevator shaft and Pilcher tells Burke he warned him the truth would lead to Wayward Pines destruction, but Ethan wouldn’t listen.

Kate enters Pilcher’s office with her weapon pointed at him and tells him to turn on the fence and nobody else needs to die. He glares at her and says he’s dedicated his entire life to these people and she comes in and tells him what to do? He says she’s only there because he chose to bring her, but she and Burke have to learn it’s not just about one person, it’s for the greater good.

He looks at Kate and chuckles and says she should go ahead and kill him, that she can destroy him but his ideas and legacy will live on, long after he’s gone. Kate says your ideas end today and suddenly we hear a shot, Pam and the surveillance operator entered the office and Pilcher’s sister killed him. The surveillance officer starts restoring power to Wayward Pines.

Ethan’s assembling the bombs and we become aware that the only way he can detonate the bombs is if he remains in the car. He flashes back briefly to Theresa and he giving Ben a birthday cake and he smiles. The Abbies start attacking the elevator, shoving their fists through the floor boards. Ethan hits the button and the car explodes, bursts into flame and falls to the bottom of the shaft. Ben hears the explosion and sticks his head in the shaft and calls for his father. A piece of debris hits Ben on the head and knocks him out.

A few hours have passed, everyone’s safe and starting to calm down. Pam approaches Kate and asks how Ben’s doing and Kate says he’s still unconscious. Kate asks if they have any beds, most of the survivors are exhausted and would love to get some sleep. Pam smiles and says they have beds in the East Wing. Kate says she’d really like to help, but the more information she has, the more help she can offer. The two women take a walk.

Pam shows Kate the suspension tubes and she tells her that in each tube, there’s a person inside, whose yet to be revived and Kate says she almost believes her. Pam says that’s the truth and Kate laughs and says they’ve never said a true word to each other in 12-years. Pam says well now’s a good time to start.

She says that they’ll run things the right way, no more secrets or surveillance. Pam says we are the future of humanity, we’re all that remains. Then the screen goes black for a few seconds. When the picture returns we hear a female voice asking how are you feeling Mr. Burke? Ben’s in a hospital bed and Amy’s wearing a nurse’s uniform, he asks what’s going on and Amy says his doctor will be there shortly and explain everything. Ben asks her why she’s dressed like that and she replies she’s a nurse and graduated two weeks ago.

Ben says you graduated, how long have I been unconscious? She says your doctor will explain everything Mr. Burke. Ben says tell me how long I was out for and what’s with this Mr. Burke routine. Amy lowers her voice and says they’re listening. He asks quietly how long he’s been unconscious and she says three years and four months. She says she tried to talk them out of putting him in suspension with the adults, but they say your father killed the savior.

She says I told them, then corrects herself and says I convinced them that you’re nothing like your father, that’s why they revived you. Ben asks where are his clothes and she says they’ll put him in suspension again and he repeats the question. She gives him a plastic bag with his clothes in it, but begs him to stay. He gets dressed and leaves the hospital.

He goes down to Main Street and there aren’t many people around, he sees a young woman on the other side of the street and one of the guards looks at Ben with a leering smile. Ben sees the merry-go-round is working and sees a young couple and their toddler sitting next to it. Then he looks to his right and gets startled. There’s a statue of Pilcher that’s been erected, he’s holding a book and standing up. The inscription reads,

David Pilcher

Wayward Pines

Visionary

Jason and the rest of the First Generation Of Wayward Pines, did survive the storm and then they put all the adults in suspension and installed themselves in what they considered their rightful place. In charge of Wayward Pines and in turn, the future of humanity.

The FOX Network mini-series “Wayward Pines,” has set the table for a truly spectacular finale, with a taut and exciting penultimate episode entitled “A Reckoning.” Finally, the entire population of the small town in Iowa, are discovering the truth about their situation, however an ominous final montage leaves one wondering if the truth and the residents of Wayward Pines, will survive the final episode? The town’s sheriff Ethan Burke, averted a crisis early in the episode, but that threat was back in play at the end.

Our first image’s a wide-shot of a neighborhood at night, suddenly phones start ringing all over town and we see the lights getting turned on in the houses. We move to the town square, the spotlights on the platform where they perform reckonings, come on. Then we watch Ethan walking onto the platform holding a knife to Kate Balinger’s neck and asking the crowd if that’s what they want to see. The crowd cheers lustily, but there are 14 residents who are allies of Kate and although undetected, they’re holding weapons.

We then go back several hours, to see the events that lead up to the reckoning, starting minutes after one of Kate’s crew drove through the electric fence with a 30-foot dump-truck. The driver left the cab with the body of a comrade who died on his way to the fence. Seconds later they got devoured by three Abbies, one eating the corpse the other two killing then eating the driver.

As they finish their meal, one of the Abbies realize that the fence’s disabled. He crawls underneath the truck to the other side of the fence, then crawls back to signal his mates. However he’s killed by Ethan slamming into him with his jeep. The other two Abbies attempt to escape by crawling under the truck, but Burke shoots out all the tires and the truck falls on them and crushes them to death.

Back at Burke’s office, Kate’s in one cell while Franklin and two other members of their team are in another. Franklin’s not the guy I’d want to be spending my final moments with, as he’s the voice of doom and gloom. He keeps repeating their dead, that Burke’s going to come back and then have a reckoning for each of them. Kate says that Ethan’s not Pope and they’ll all be fine. She says she knows Ethan and he’s not going to kill them. Franklin counters with she used to know him before they got to him.

Ethan’s secretary Arlene’s sitting at her desk playing solitary, when three teenaged boys walk into the station and demand to see Sheriff Burke. She tells them he’s not at the station, then asks them what gives them the right to demand anything? The loudmouth of the trio, flashes his school ring and says he’s a member of the first graduating class of Wayward Pines Academy.

He then says that Wayward Pines has rules and punishment for breaking those rules and he wants to know when the sheriff will hold reckonings for the guilty. Arlene says that’s none of his business and tells them to leave, one of his buddies tells the loudmouth Jason that they should leave. Jason says tell the sheriff if he doesn’t want to do the reckoning he knows people who will gladly take care of it. Then they leave.

Ethan’s got a construction team repairing the fence when David Pilcher arrives. Burke says he’s got the situation under control and Pilcher responds that the rebels won’t stop. Ethan says the reason that they drove through the fence was Pilcher’s fault for not leveling with the residents. The creator of Wayward Pines blames his sheriff’s leniency as the problem, telling him he must kill Kate Balinger.

The doctor says that the rebels will fall apart without her leadership. He then asks Burke if he could have killed the Easter bomber, before he killed so many, would he have done it? He says to Ethan it’s one life for the safety of the whole town.

Burke drags Harold Balinger into an interrogation room and shows him pictures of the remains of the two guys who crashed through the fence. It’s clear that they’ve been eaten by some monster, but Harold asks Ethan what he did to them? Burke looks him in the eye and says if he killed them, he’d have shot them instead of eating them. He then tells Balinger that he needs the names of the other members of their team, or this will happen to all of them.

Pamela’s sitting in her office and going through some books, when she finds a picture of David and her when they were children. She smiles at the memory at first, but then she gets up from her desk and leaves her office. Pamela believes her brother’s lost his way, a rift formed between them over Reggie Hudson and her days of unquestioning loyalty ended.

Theresa Burke steps out of Ben’s room at the hospital and Pam asks her how Ben’s doing. Theresa says that Ben slept through the night and Pam says that’s great. She then quietly asks her if Ethan told her the truth about Wayward Pines and Theresa uncomfortably nods yes. Pilcher asks if she believes him and Burke responds she doesn’t know what to believe. Pamela says that’s a good attitude, to question everything.

She then tells Theresa to go home and get some rest, that they’ll take good care of Ben. However, she tells Theresa not to take Main Street, instead to take the route that passes Lot 33 and see what you find. Theresa smiles weakly and leaves the hospital she looks at the pass that Pilcher slipped into her hand, granting her total access to the town.

Ethan goes to the surveillance center of the complex and tells Pilcher that he’s got 14 names, they are the rest of Kate and Harold’s team. The surveillance operator says that they’re all together at the Bier Garten, but when they pull up the video feed the bar’s empty. A call by Pilcher to the bartender, reveals that all 14 tracking-chips are in a beer-mug.

Ben’s in his hospital bed when he starts hearing these codes alerting doctors to a crisis in Amy’s room. Ben unhooks himself from the monitors and walks into the hall and sees Amy’s mom and dad leaving her room crying. He tries to go into the room when Pam stops him, she tells him Amy’s developed a swelling of the brain and she needs surgery. Ben breaks down crying and Pam hugs him.

Theresa heads to Lot 33 and knocks out the surveillance camera with a steel pipe. She then heads into the shack on the lot and quickly realizes that the rickety wooden floor boards, hide a metal trap door. She opens it and sees a ladder heading down to the basement. She takes the ladder down and uses a flashlight at first but the lighting system senses her presence and starts lighting the hallway. She comes to a door that reads passes and it says total access granted and the door opens.

Megan Fisher comes to Ben’s room at the hospital and asks about Amy’s condition, he tells her the surgery’s completed and it will be a couple of hours before the doctors know anything. She then asks if he thought any more about their conversation the previous day, when she said that Ben needs to share his thoughts publicly. She then tells him about the crashing of the fence.

She says the town’s coming apart and he needs to be a leader and talk to the people, telling them he doesn’t approve of the leniency the rebels are getting. She says you’re not alone and suddenly there’s a sound outside Ben’s window that sounds like marching. However it’s all the students from his class standing outside his window, slamming their fists into the palms of their other hands, a gesture that looked like they wanted revenge.

The surveillance operator sees the commotion outside the hospital and pulls it up on the giant monitor and calls for Burke and Pilcher to check it out. Just as they walk over, they see Megan and Ben come outside and Ethan asks the operator for audio. Fisher tells the students to let Ben talk and he thanks them for coming and tells them about Amy.

He then says that Amy’s a really good person and whom ever was behind hurting her deserves to be punished. He then apologizes for his father letting the town down. Jason and his two buddies are in the crowd and Jason asks Ben when his father’s going to have a reckoning, Ben replies he’s not having one. Jason and his buddies turn around and storm off, then the rest of the students leave soon after.

Jason and his pals head back to the sheriff’s station, Arlene tries to lock the plate-glass door, but Jason bashes through it. He then tells Arlene to give him the keys and she spits in his face, he picks her up and throws her against a wall. Then he handcuffs her to a filing cabinet and takes the keys, he opens the rifle rack and starts loading three with ammunition.

Kate recognizes him, he was in their toy-store when he was just eight-years-old and he bought a wooden soldier that Harold had carved. She says she remembers it like it was yesterday and says he was a really good kid. She says it doesn’t have to end like this and one of Jason’s buddy’s says she’s right, we’ve made our point. Jason screams at him this isn’t about making a point, then asks if his pal was deaf throughout their school-years.

First he opens the cell with Franklin and the other two men, he tells them to come out and get on their knees. He then opens the cell with Kate and Harold and she tries to grab him to ask for sympathy and he responds with the butt of his rifle to her head. While she’s on the floor he tells Harold to get out and join the other men on their knees.

He then makes all four men repeat, “Work Hard, Be Happy And Enjoy Your Life In Wayward Pines.” He then takes his rifle and puts it to the back of Harold’s head. Harold mouths I Love You to Kate then we hear the rifle fire and we see Harold’s blood and tissue all over Kate’s face. He then shoots the other three dead and heads into the cell and points the rifle at Kate’s head. However Ethan comes in right then and kills Jason with one shot, then tells the other two teens to drop their weapons.

Ethan brings Kate into an interrogation room and says that the only way the other 14 people will be safe, is if she tells him where they are, so he can protect him. She responds like you protected Harold? Then she says the only way he can protect them, is by stop protecting her. He says he won’t do that and she says if he doesn’t kill her, another Jason will.

Arlene runs into the room and says she thinks more vigilantes are there, she just heard something. However when he goes out front, it’s Theresa and she says she needs to show him and Kate something. They head to Lot 33 and Theresa sits down in front of a computer containing video archives and pulls one up and starts playing it. They soon see Adam Hassler who says the date’s September 15, 4020 and they’ve finally reached the city, but have found no survivors.

He then says a band of Abbies are following them and he believes it’s the same group they saw earlier in the trip. He then turns the camera to the Golden Gate Bridge and its either in pieces or partially submerged. The video then cuts out. Theresa says there are hundreds of video journals from cities all over the country, nothing’s left.

Ethan looks over at Kate and asks if she believes him now and she asks why Pilcher hid this from them. Burke says Pilcher’s a control freak but they have to tell everybody. Theresa asks how they’re going to tell people without Pilcher finding out? Ethan says just show this to as many people before midnight as possible, he’ll take care of Pilcher. She asks why midnight and Kate and Ethan say in unison there’s going to be a reckoning.

Burke heads over to Pilcher’s office and the surveillance operator tells David that the sheriff’s in his office waiting to talk to him. When the doctor enters his office, he sees Ethan sitting there drinking liquor, Burke says he decided that reckoning Kate Balinger’s the only solution. However he needs all the residents at the reckoning, Pilcher gives him a remote control which controls all the phones.

Which brings us back full circle to the opening scene as Ethan and Kate walk across the platform, while Burke asks the crowd if they want Kate dead. He then lets her go and puts down the knife and tells the crowd he’s not going to kill her, instead he’s going to tell them the truth. The world they know is long gone, Wayward Pines is it. He then says they’ve been ruled by the man they know as Dr. Jenkins, who in reality’s David Pilcher. He says he’s ruled through fear and violence for too long.

Somebody screams from the crowd that Burke’s lying and then Kate says he’s telling the truth, that she saw it for herself. She says all these years she’s just wanted to know the truth, but she never expected that they were the last surviving people. Then Theresa says she saw it as well, then Arlene says she also saw it, followed by some other residents.

Kate says that Pilcher thinks they can’t handle the truth and will turn on each other, but she says they can show him he’s wrong. Suddenly Megan Fisher steps forward and shouts Kate down, asking how she dare talk about Dr. Pilcher. She calls Kate a terrorist and Theresa steps up and slaps Fisher across the face. Megan’s shocked and then she asks if they’re all going to just stand there and everyone remains silent. Then the lights go out, first in the square then all throughout Wayward Pines. We see its Pilcher turning off the power via a keyboard and then we see the electric-fence power down. Our last image’s the hand of one of the Abbie’s starting to scale the fence.

The townspeople gather on main street. A reckoning is afoot. Ethan marches Kate to the platform, knife pressed against her throat. Some of her supporters are amidst the crowd with small weapons, seemingly prepared to respond. Flashing back to sometime before the reckoning, there is a much larger problem descending upon the fence. It takes one of the Abbies seconds to deduce that food very well could be on the other side of this large metal box that breached the fence. Luckily, Ethan arrives in time to introduce this Abbie to the grill of his truck. He then quickly smashes two more crawling under the dump truck by shooting out the tires.

In their holding cells Franklin begins to freak out a little while Kate remains calm. Franklin anticipates Ethan doing his ‘job’ like Sheriff Pope. Kate disagrees. Her previous experience with Ethan would seem to dictate just the opposite. Franklin insists they are already dead, it’s just a matter of time.

The apparent spokesmen for the first senior class of Wayward Pines abruptly pay the Sheriff a visit. Even though Ethan is not there, they are less than polite about their agenda. The children, even the old ones, take the rules very seriously. Their point of contention is that Ethan is holding terrorists with no intention of a reckoning. Arlene does her very best to stand strong between these kids and the detained. They reluctantly leave.

In what I at least I see as an underwhelming follow-up to a significant cliff hanger, we find Ethan and David Pilcher observing the repairs on the wall. One Abbie got through and Ethan killed it. Two more attempted to get through and Ethan smashed them with a parked dump truck. The gist of the collective fanbase’s anticipation for this episode in particular had to do with how much damage the Abbies would cause and is Wayward Pines equipped to fight them off. Taking three of them out before they could organize and fixing the fence is extremely underwhelming.

Ethan and Pilcher debate the causes of the predicament they find themselves in. Ethan believes this happened because Pilcher won’t tell them the truth. Pilcher believes this will only get worse the longer the rules violators go unpunished. Pilcher suggests that without Kate, there is no rebellion. Reckon her and everything goes back. A notion, that for now, Ethan refuses to get on board with. Then Pilcher does something that might be ill-advised. He threw the Easter Bomber in Ethan’s face as a cautionary tale before the dramatic walk away.

Ethan forcefully escorts Harold into the interrogation room…for the second time now. Harold tries to resist Ethan’s approach until he sees Kate. Ethan shrugs that off and drops two 8×10 photographs of Allen and Eric. Or what’s now left of them. As predicted, Harold is having a difficult time accepting the evidence in front of him. Ethan wants names.

Pam feeling nostalgic or fearful, finds Theresa and pulls her aside. This private conversation begins with the importance of questioning things. This is either Pam opening up or setting Theresa up for something bad. She suggests Theresa take Boxwood instead of Main St home. Just to see what she’ll find. Pam was touchy/feely for a reason. When Theresa reaches the elevator she discovers a key card in the sleeve of her cardigan. They same type of key card that unlocks the cryo-chambers.

All of the names Harold gave Ethan are conveniently in one place. Or so it would seem. Surveillance puts them all at the Biergarten. Which at the moment is virtually empty. The barkeep gets a phone call from Pilcher. No words are heard, but upon hanging up, the bartender finds all of their tracking devices at the bottom of a beer glass. The 14 dissidents are off the grid.

Amy develops a swelling in her brain. The commotion draws the attention of Ben who is under the impression that she is recovering just fine. Like any caring person in a hospital scene of this type, Ben almost cannot be contained by Pam. His emotions run over. Pam eventually convinces him to trust the staff.

During the painful time that Ben must wait to hear back from the hospital staff on the progress with Amy’s swelling, Megan Fisher re-enters Ben’s hospital room spewing her tired rhetoric. She stops speaking to let the student body’s fist pounding outside can be heard. Fisher is a rabble-rouser. She has collected the children and lobbied for Ben’s involvement to create added pressure for reckonings.

During the surveillance to find the dissidents, HQ’s staff finds this temporarily non-violent protest outside the hospital. Ben speaks to the crowd. At first it’s somber about the situation with Amy. But then it transitions into the same lines about rules and the safety of the town. Even including an apology for his father’s failures. This prompts one of the seniors to demand an answer.

Jason (senior): So when is your Dad going to reckon them?
Ben: He’s not going to.
(the senior storms off)

Naturally, the key card in Theresa’s possession would lead her to plot 33. What Theresa finds looks more like a bomb shelter than anything else. Once below, one swipe of the key card and ‘level 13 clearance’ appears and the door opens.

The Dead Poets Society rejects (seniors) return to the Sheriff’s office. This time with a bat and less calm. Jason subdues Arlene and handcuffs her to a filing cabinet before breaking into a weapon locker. At this point, Kate tries to reason with Jason by recalling a story involving Jason and a toy soldier about ten years earlier. The story only causes him to hesitate momentarily. At gunpoint, Jason forces the group out of their cells. Harold tries to retaliate after Jason strikes Kate but it doesn’t work.

Jason begins reciting the motto. He stands behind Harold, gun pointed. Then in a cinematically dark turn of events, shoots Harold in the back of the head sending blood all over Kate’s agonizing face. He continues to take out the remaining men with no abandon. Just before he shoots Kate in the head, Ethan arrives and shoots Jason.

Once moved to the interrogation room, Kate is tight-lipped. Almost catatonic. She eventually gives in. Ethan can’t protect the dissidents as long as Kate is being protected. Her plan is to reckon her to prevent others from dying. Before they can decide on this, Theresa comes in and tells Ethan she has something to show him, and Kate should see it too.

Lot 33 seems to have a library of videos of some specific relevance. The first of which shows Adam Hassler in the year 4020. He has found the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s half-submerged in the bay. He also references the Abbies and how they have been tracking him. This is another source that confirms what Ethan has said. Ethan has decided these videos need to be shared with the town. But it has to come before midnight. That’s when there will be a reckoning.

Ethan has invited himself into Pilcher residence. He tells Pilcher he plans to reckon Kate. Ethan will reckon Kate, but that’s it. No more killing. Pilcher gladly agrees. Ethan’s one other stipulation is that everyone, and he means everyone, has to be there. This brings us back to the reckoning scene from the cold open. However, he does not kill Kate. It was all a ploy to get everyone within earshot of Ethan to hear the truth.

Pilcher watches on a monitor as Ethan uncovers Dr. Jenkins as Dr. Pilcher and the man behind the curtain. The world they know no longer exists. Kate chimes in supporting Ethan’s claims. Then Theresa. Then Arlene and so on. Fisher interjects to push back and proclaim David Pilcher the savior deity she believes him to be. Megan rants on demanding Kate be reckoned. That’s the precise moment that Theresa slaps the gumption out of Fisher’s rant. Then…Pilcher cuts the power to the entire town. Including the electricity to Amy’s hospital room. And for what? To show them the horror he has been protecting them from. The final frame shows an Abbie grabbing the fence with no consequence for doing so.

“Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you’re always afraid You step out of line, the man come and take you away.”

For What It’s Worth-Stephen Stills

Utopia: The perfect society; a place devoid of all the troubles that plague humanity; a land of contentment, free from want and hardship and filled with friendship and love for each other. People have strived to reach or create such a society since the dawn of creation, but they never last for long. Are imperfect creatures capable of building a perfect society?

With just two episodes remaining in the FOX miniseries “Wayward Pines,” we’ve become aware that a sizable segment of the town, don’t truly feel they reside in “The Friendliest Place On Earth.” During episode eight, viewers found out that characters such as Ruby from the coffee-shop and Tim Bell the manager of the Wayward Pines Hotel, aren’t the compliant and passive people we assumed they were. Both were actively involved in the plan designed by Kate Hewson, to disable the electric fence surrounding the town and escape.

Dr. David Pilcher, the architect of the ark that contains the only remaining humans in the year 4028, now finds himself fighting twin battles. The first being a growing segment of the residents of Wayward Pines that want answers. However the more pressing problem’s the one he’s not aware of yet, the fence has been breached and it’s just a matter of time until the Abbies cross that divide.

Pilcher realized that humanity would cease to exist within the next few hundred-years, back in the nineties and he set a plan in motion to repopulate the planet in Wayward Pines, Idaho. He then spent the next 15-years kidnapping people and then putting them into a state of suspended animation, so they woke up over 2000 years later without physically aging a day. The new residents thought they’d been unconscious for hours, or perhaps as much as a day and most of them believe they still live in the 21st century.

When the residents awoke they found themselves with new lives and a fresh start, a needed second chance for many of them. They got new homes, new careers and even in some cases new significant others. In many ways it was a paradise, as long as the resident followed the rules, prominently displayed throughout the town:

Do Not Try To Leave.

Do Not Talk About The Past.

Do Not Discuss Your Life Before.

Always Answer The Phone If It Rings.

Work Hard And Be Happy

And Enjoy Your Life In Wayward Pines.

Those rules were not part of David Pilcher’s original vision for Wayward Pines. The current residents of the community, are referred to as “Group B,” because the people from the first group that got revived, couldn’t accept their new realities. The knowledge that they were the last survivors of humanity and the world they knew, ceased to exist two-thousand years earlier, created mass-panic. Residents either fled in panic and quickly became meals for the Abbies, or took their own lives. Determined that the second control-group not suffer the same fate, Pilcher established his wall of secrecy and eliminated anyone who threatened to peek behind the curtain.

There’s a different set of rules in effect for the children of the community, known as the First Generation Of Wayward Pines. They’re informed about their new realities by the Director of the Wayward Pines Academy, Dr. Megan Fisher. A hypnotherapist in our era, Fisher’s masterful in her ability to connect with disaffected teens such as Ben Burke. A young man that spent his lifetime on the outside looking in, he now feels loved and popular. There were no smiles for Theresa or Ethan Burke from their son, when they visited him in the hospital, however he met Megan’s arrival with an ear-to-ear grin.

Ben’s not only accepted his new life, he’s embraced it joyously. He’s got an adorable girlfriend named Amy and Fisher told him in the last episode, that he’s a hero having survived a terrorist attack and people are going to want to hear his opinions.

It’s further reinforcement of the bond she’s creating between the children and the state, further alienation of the child from the people who raise them. Your parents can’t handle the truth, we have your best interests at heart, the state in effect becomes the parent. It’s the same principles used in totalitarian societies throughout history, the Nazis, Stalin’s Soviet Union and the Cultural Revolution in China utilized the same tactics. If the people raising you are enemy’s of the state, then turn them in.

Megan quickly turned Ben against his father partially by picking at an old wound, surmising that Ethan may have been less lenient, had the suspect not been married to Kate Hewson. Fisher realized that Ben felt his father chose Hewson over his family when he had his affair with her. Fisher inferred that Ethan’s feelings for Hewson, nearly cost Ben his life.

We’re aware that Pilcher and his associates care deeply about the town’s children, but how much do they care about the adults. Pilcher wants compliance and things to run smoothly, his concerns with adults seem to be less about happiness and more about acceptance. To keep the placidity he’s trying to maintain in his town, he’s shown us that no measures are too extreme.

David’s sister Pamela interviews the staff of 24 volunteers that regulate the surveillance feeds. Although 23 members of the crew have no problems with the concept of eavesdropping, one man named Reggie Hudson admits to erasing comments that he attributed to fear. Then he looked Pamela in the eyes and said.

“These people are scared. I see them sobbing in their rooms, holding each other. They just don’t understand what became of their lives. It’s just human nature to ask questions.”

Surprisingly, the ever loyal Nurse Pam didn’t share that conversation with her brother. While she’s the first to call for a reckoning, she thinks it will send a bad message to the other volunteers if Reggie gets punished. David ignores her advice and buries the man, filling the tube he’s encased in with soil.

Whether Pilcher wants it or not, that wall of secrecy has collapsed now that the fence got disabled by the 30-foot dump-truck. It appears that the residents of Wayward Pines are going to find out the truth about their situation, sooner than later. Can they band together and defeat the Abbies, or is humanity doomed once again?

Ethan frantically carries his injured son into the hospital. Pam greets him and tries to put his mind at ease by reiterating that the children are their most precious resource. Shortly thereafter, Pam escorts Theresa into Ben’s room. The prognosis is better than expected, but they’re not out of the woods yet. Dr. Pilcher runs in and Pam intercepts him. He is understandably irate. Pam’s solution to the fallout is to have a ‘celebration of life in Wayward Pines’.

Harold and some of the dissenters are in the woods with an injured man. Assumption being the driver of the delivery truck. Harold gets the news that Kate is in jail and others are in the wind. One of them, while sympathetic has to leave to save himself.

While Kate sleeps, we see a flashback dream sequence of her in a padded room with Dr. Pilcher. She seems crazy, but really is having a difficult time coming to grips with the situation. With the limited truth the adults are given, it’s not far-fetched that she still believes this is a government program/experiment.

Pilcher attempts to quell the rumors being discussed in the coffee shop when Ruby gets a phone call. A gathering tonight, attendance is mandatory. Pilcher surveys the room after this news. Ruby looks awkward and removes something from her left ear. They appear to be pine needles. Her chip indicates that she’s at home in bed. Pilcher wants to look deeper to see how many other chips suggest they are at home in bed.

Ethan visits Kate demanding to know where the others are. He tells her about what happened to Ben and when she shows sincere concern, he lashes out. Then Kate brings up the question that we haven’t seen posed on-screen. Why did they choose Ethan to be Sheriff? Was it really just because he killed the Sheriff and then must assume his responsibilities? Kate believes that when it comes right down to it, Ethan will always follow orders.

Pam meets with Pilcher in his home to update him on the status of Amy and Ben. He interrupts her to tell her that he believes Ruby is ‘one of them’. Pilcher believes there is someone on the inside helping them to evade surveillance. Pam’s suggestion of conducting a security review doesn’t seem to do much for his concern.

Pam begins her questioning. She leads them down standard questioning then throws each one a curve ball. Thus far, they are giving all the right answers. Until interview #3. He is skeptical about how much he should be hearing. He believes she’s opening up for him to be honest. In turn, he gives honest answers. Not the best idea. “It’s just human nature to ask questions”.

Ben wakes up with Theresa bedside. His first concern is Amy. As Theresa leaves the room to check on Amy, Mrs. Fisher sneaks in to speak with Ben. After the initial small talk, she begins to plant the seed that this all happened due to Ethan’s poor choices in letting people go. She’s clearly doing damage control. She continues putting more thoughts in his head as to the severity of the situation. Up to and including the suggestion that he was a survivor of a terrorist attack.

The group of dissenters in the woods discover that their driver has died. They begin to dig a grave for him when one of them stops. He refuses to bury this man inside the fence.

At the gathering, amidst the side conversations, Pilcher suggests that the Mayor say some words to bring the people together. The Mayor doesn’t get three sentences out before Ethan asks to address the crowd. His message is just the opposite. Ethan thinks this gathering is a bad idea. Ethan gives details to what happened last night, which is exactly not what Pilcher wanted.

Ethan visits Ben and tries to make light of the situation. Here’s where Mrs. Fisher’s words influence Ben’s thinking. Even when Ben mentions the notion that Ethan let Harold go because he’s married to Kate. Bringing up previous issues they dealt with in Seattle over two thousand years ago. But, Ethan lets him speak. Saying to Theresa, he can say whatever he wants. Ben is clearly angered by this. Theresa tries to suggest that Mrs. Fisher is filling his head with this, and Ethan cuts her off. Then Amy walks in.

Pilcher and Pam meet again. It seems no one is intentionally breaking any rules. He says that it would be a tough line to cross if they had to punish someone on the inside. Pam claims they won’t have to. This grabs Picher’s attention. He grows a devious smile. It seems he is becoming suspicious of his own sister.

Letting the man go that would eventually cause a bigger problem would not be the first time it’s happened with Ethan. Ethan tells Theresa about the ‘Easter Bombings’, the previous example. This is the incident that lead to his infidelity with Kate.

Theresa confronts Mrs. Fisher. Theresa is not wrong, but squaring off with the Principal and residential hypnotist is probably not the best direction to take. She suggests that the best thing Fisher can do is to stay as far away from her family as possible.

Ethan gets a call about a stolen truck. In their effort to open the fence, for freedom or burial opportunities, Harold and the other man from the woods have stolen a 30 foot dump truck. Instead of assuming that there will be another bomb, Ethan thinks that the truck may be the bomb. Or at least the tool to open the fence.

Our second flashback of the night shows a more compliant Kate discussing her progress with Dr. Pilcher. She compares the difference between the same questions here and there. Wayward Pines provides a place where the imminent fear of terror is dramatically minimized. She feels safe regardless as to the answers. She can live moment to moment. Her compliance of course is only an act. Pilcher visits Kate in jail. They discuss the balance between risking loss of life for the truth. Both stand firm on their convictions. Despite that, Pilcher will not tell her what the truth is. Even after she reveals that she knows his name is David Pilcher and not Dr. Jenkins.

Pilcher: It’s not a question of keeping people in the dark. It’s a question of keeping people alive. Freedom or safety. Not both. (Pilcher walks away)
Kate: And who anointed you to make that choice?
Pilcher: I did.

Pilcher returns to his study where Pam pours him some tea. She leaves to get him some pie. Pilcher picks up the phone and quietly asks for security. The first stop is interview #3. Pilcher informs Pam of the interviewer. Pam is resistant to the idea of punishing him. Pam’s own humanity is showing through despite Pilcher’s panic. Pilcher gathers all of those ‘on the inside’ to witness what he thinks will be the last killing. With Reggie (interview #3) in cryo-stasus, one of the workers walks up and pushes a button on the panel and the unit fills with dirt. With Reggie still in it.

Harold tells his associate that he cannot continue without Kate. As he tries to walk off out of view, Ethan spots him from his truck. After a short chase and a few rounds shot in the air, Harold stops. Harold won’t give anything up and tells Ethan its too late.

Pilcher gives a Pilcher like speech to his team about vigilance. Meanwhile the man in the dump truck rams the fence. Successfully enough. He grabs his dead friend and ventures into the other side. He has a moment reviling in their success. Believing that they’ve made it. It only takes a few moments for the Abbies to find him. His moment of success becomes his moment of realization, just before they eat him.